It has been well known in the prior art to divide a bucket to be used for mopping into two compartments. The purpose of dividing a bucket into compartments has always been to maintain different liquids placed in each compartment, such as a washing liquid and a rinsing liquid, separate from each other as shown by U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,164,050, 1,486,284 and 3,280,418. The provision of a horizontal strainer in a bucket to allow dirt and sediment to settle to the bottom of a bucket and thereby remain separated from the water in the bucket, is also known--as exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 2,712,668.
The present invention provides a compartmentalized container such as a portable bucket or wall mounted sink with a special partition arrangement which permits controlled recirculation of liquid between compartments as a mop is repeatedly dipped and wrung out and which thereby facilitates the cleaning of a larger floor area before it becomes necessary to replace the liquid. According to the broad teachings of the present invention, the interior of a mop bucket or a wall-mounted sink is partitioned into first and second compartments by a special partition means which defines a flow passage for passing increments of relatively clean solids-free liquid from the first compartment into the second compartment during use of the bucket in conjunction with a mop. Liquid is received into the first compartment by wringing a mop thereinto and the liquid in this compartment continually undergoes "treatment" in the sense that solids are removed from the liquid by settling and/or filtering and in the sense that any floatable material such as oil rises to the surface and is retained there. This first compartment will hereinafter be referred to as the treatment compartment. The second compartment will be referred to as the dip compartment.
In use of the device, both compartments are first filled with liquid. A used mop is dipped in the dip compartment, and then the wet mop is then placed over the body of liquid in the treatment compartment and is wrung out, thereby adding an increment of dirty liquid to the treatment compartment. The wrung-out mop is then used in the conventional manner to clean a floor, after which the mop is again dipped in the dip compartment. The wringing, mopping and dipping cycle is of course repeated many times in the course of mopping a large area.
Referring more specifically to the operation of the treatment compartment it should be kept in mind that the liquid therein is not subject to any significant agitation because the mop is not placed in that liquid. Rather, the mop is wrung out above the treatment compartment so that the liquid therein remains relatively quiet. As a result grit and dense solids settle to the bottom of the treatment chamber leaving the liquid therein in a relatively solids-free condition. At the same time any oil or other floatable material which enters the treatment compartment rise to the surface and remain there.
The addition of each wrung-out increment of excess liquid to the treatment compartment raises the level of liquid therein and this causes an equal volume of liquid to be displaced from the lower part of the treatment compartment through the flow passage in the partition into the upper portion of the dip compartment. In the early stages of mopping with a freshly filled bucket the displaced increment of liquid is relatively clean because the displaced liquid is fresh liquid which has never been in contact with the mop. More important, however, is that with continued use of the bucket in conjunction with a mop there is a continuous recirculation of relatively solids-free liquid from the treatment compartment into the dip compartment and of liquid from the dip compartment, by way of a wet mop, into the treatment compartment, combined with solids removal and retention in the treatment compartment. The result is that the liquid remains cleaner for a substantially greater number of moppings than if the mop were merely rinsed in the total volume of the device.
Any grit or other insoluble particulate material which is removed from the mop in the dip compartment either remains in suspension or tends to settle to the bottom. A horizontal strainer may be placed near the bottom of the dip compartment for allowing the grit to pass downwardly and to prevent re-suspension of the grit when a mop is rinsed or dipped. A fine-pored filter may be placed near the bottom of the treatment compartment or in the flow passage for filtering solid particles from the liquid which is displaced. A bed of sand placed in the bottom of the treatment compartment up to a level higher than the opening into the flow passage, provides a suitable filter. Under mopping conditions where coarse grit forms a bed in the treatment compartment the bed may serve as a filter. A bed of fine particles will obstruct the flow of liquid, and when such a bed forms the bucket should be emptied and refilled with fresh liquid.
It will be appreciated that the connection of the flow passage with the treatment compartment below the level of liquid therein prevents freshly wrung-out increments of solids-containing liquid from flowing directly through the passage into the dip compartment. This configuration is important also in that oil and grease removed from the mop by wringing are retained in the treatment compartment, floating on the surface of the liquid therein. When an oily mop is dipped in the dip compartment some of the oil may be removed from the mop and float on the surface of the liquid in the dip compartment. However, subsequent dipping and wringing operations will transfer this oil to the treatment compartment where it will be retained.
The special partition means may be an integral part of the entire two-compartment container or it may be part of an insert which is added to an existing container. For example, the insert may be a bucket-like container constructed with the partition means forming a side wall thereof. The interior of the insert may be the equivalent of the above-described treatment compartment so that when the insert is placed in a larger container, the remainder of the container serves as the dip compartment.